Embodiment Painting

James Hollis (famously) wrote 'Fear of the depths is the enemy' and his exploration of the depths, and especially of the shadow figure in the human psyche, is rich (See for example his book 'Under Saturn's Shadow). Turning to face the shadows in our depths - all those parts of ourselves which we try to avoid, hide away and ignore - is a tough task, whether it's individual or collective, but when we do my experience is that we tap a huge amount of energy and a sense of freedom. When the shadow figure is depicted in art it is rightly normally portrayed as something to fear, hidden away in the darkness (because that is how we initially experience it). Often it is portrayed as something evil. However I wanted to try to give a sense of the freedom, energy and even joy that we can begin to experience when we turn to face and acknowledge those parts of ourselves that we have tried to escape and would rather just weren't there. When we acknowledge the shadow and even befriend those dark parts of ourselves, a process of integration, of coming together occurs and we give them the chance to transform themselves and us into something more real, more alive, more powerful - and though it can be hard to imagine, more connected to others and more beautiful. The figure in this image is inspired by the wonderful photographic work of Ken Brower and Deborah Ory in their NYC Dance Project. In fact, I'd like to have painted it as a massive mural in NYC!

Painting:Acrylic on Canvas

Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork

Size:31.9 W x 39.4 H x 0.8 D in

Delivery Time:Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.